"Hallway of Hope" Commission for Child and Family Service, 10" x 80" House Paint, 2017-2018

Original Sketch for the C&FS Mural

Several months ago I was referred by a friend of mine about a really interesting project on Oahu though an organization called Child and Family Service. I am so very honored that I was able to take on this project as it is something near and dear to my heart. I was commissioned to create an undersea themed mural for one of Child and Family's services' private facilities. This mural is at an undisclosed location and it is meant to transform what was once a rather dark and outdated hallway into something magical, warm and welcoming.

Taken from the C&FS website:

"Our family-centered, full-service nonprofit has been at work in the community since 1899, and is dedicated to “Strengthening families and fostering the healthy development of children”. Through nearly 50 programs that welcome everyone from keiki to kūpuna across the Islands, we help Hawai‘i families address some of life’s most serious situations including poverty, abuse, and neglect. We prove our effectiveness with data and results.

We offer those who want to help themselves a chance to transform their lives, without judgment, and seek to help families sustain positive gains.

Child & Family Service is a model nonprofit dedicated to helping Hawaii’s most at-risk families

— https://www.childandfamilyservice.org/aboutus/

Within the past fiscal year (July 1, 2015 – June 30, 2016) alone, CFS provided direct services, to 10,518 individuals and touched another 43,500 lives through phone calls, referrals, educational presentations, and by providing for those visiting walk-in family centers."

Below are some images from the process. Since I am a full time art teacher it took several months to get the project going and finished. I am really glad everyone was able to stick with it and come together to make this happen.

I was also very fortunate that I could bring my amazing Island Pacific Academy student to help me during their annual "Make a Difference" Day. It was several hours of straight painting but I'm very proud of all their hard work. Plus they are the masterminds behind the whale! So cute! Check out the timelapse video below combining their volunteer day with my overall painting process.

Big Mahalo to Child and Family Service for allowing me this opportunity to create this work and big mahalo to the sponsors for making it all possible. I am so happy I can support an organization that does so many good things for my neighborhood community. <3 Boz

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Looking for a mural or design for your organization? Look no further! Feel free to shoot me an email at aloha@bozschurr.com with your idea and let's chat!

Art at Large 2.0 is finally finished and as always I am so excited and grateful to be a part of it. I love that the University of Hawaii at Manoa's Art Dept is utilizing it's incredible skills and talents to add to the environment around campus. We *could* live with ugly construction barriers, but why? The arts beautify otherwise dull and depressing spaces and creates a sense of community when student artists and community artists work side by side. Which is a new part to this iteration of Art at Large, more students involved = more learning. More learning = better quality of life. Here's hoping I'll one day be able to get my own students involved! Chee!

Sustainable Squid - Original Sketch for UH Manoa

Check out the Timelapse Video:

Art at Large 3.0 is being planned as we speak! I really hope to be a part of it and maybe you can too! The art dept donates all it's time and talent but they still need something to paint with. Each iteration of Art at Large costs $2-3,000. To support go HERE and mention ART AT LARGE in comment. Every little bit helps and it means everyone can enjoy the arts! Mahalo!

A few years ago I saw a Tedtalk by Cesar Kuriyama and It was life changing. I have always been an artist who cares deeply about the process of making art. So much so that the actual art pieces in a few instances became remnants or the journey and the process, rather then being the main artwork. The actual making of the art became the art itself. You can see this in some of my timelapses: where I paint a mural and then I destroy it to paint another one the next day. It's time consuming and physically challenging but without the timelapse I don't think I would be able to appreciate the work as much if all I had was the final product.

So four years ago I began doing the same thing with my life. Modeled after that Tedtalk I began documting not only the process of my artwork but my whole life.

I make my video a little differently from Cesar Kuriyama by editing some of the clips to be longer and adding uplifting music. I also try to focus only on the positive. I do not think this denies the challenges and struggles of the year, I still remember the black toenails I got when training for the Honolulu marathon and the time I stayed up so late to paint a mural for a non-profit I didn't sleep that night and still had a full day of teaching the next day, but instead I think it helps me to re-enforce why all those difficult moments are worth it.

Here are the other three years. A lot has changed in myself, my students and everywhere, so it's nice to look back on a full, rich life.

I am so excited to have been included in this year's Pow! Wow! Hawaii. For the last five years Pow! Wow! has been bringing local and international artists together to celebrate art, music and create originals works of art in little under a week. It's an amazing sight to see so many creatives come together to collaborate and share their talents and ideas. Mahalo nui loa for letting me be a part of it.

I am so excited to have been included in this year's Pow! Wow! Hawaii! My wall "Lucky Squiddy Kitty" can be found at 524 Kamani st and will be up till February 2018.

“POW! – It’s the impact that art has on a person.

WOW! – It’s reaction that art has on a viewer.

Together they form POW WOW, which is a Native American term that describes a gathering that celebrates culture, music and art.”

— Jasper Wong (Pow! Wow! Founder and Lead Director)

Even though this project was quick and last minute (Three days to paint!) I already had an idea I've been working on. The colors as always represent the color spectrum which I use in my work to represent the mental health spectrum. This time I am playing around with color contrasts and complements. Because let's face it, life isn't always a neat and orderly rainbow, there's messy overlap sometimes. I am really interested also in this new subtle color palette. The flower, squids and cat of course represent my travels and interactions with other cultures, friends and neighbors.

Original Wall design by @beaksup808

After priming the wall

The original flower. I ended up changing it since it wasn't going to fit with the final color scheme.

Lucky cat and flower

Since I had no light, I had to work was when the sun was up. It was hot!

Final wall 20' tall

My squiddy kitty sticker! Check out my store!

Final wall

Boz for scale. I'm pretty short so this wall needed a big ladder. 20' x 30'? no problem!

I actually got started a little late on the mural since I was added to the roster at the last minute. Most of the walls had been prepped on the weekend before the actual painting and the artist were able to start on Monday. I didn't get to prepping my wall till Tuesday! Thank goodness it's not the biggest wall I've ever painted!

The 2017 Pow! Wow! murals will be up for the remainder of the year and you can find mine in town at 524 Kamani St on the back of SF Fender across from Duck Butt Cafe.

Mahalo for looking! Please sign up for my mailing list so you don't miss any great events or events coming up! Cheers! <3 Boz

"Octopus Flying Through Space" is 40' x 100' and can be see in downtown Honolulu at 510 Piikoi st.

I am so excited about a project I recently finished in Kaka'ako on Oahu, Hawaii. Over a year ago as I was driving in town I saw the side of a building with some graffiti on it and long story short I was able to paint the biggest mural I've painted to date. It took over a year of sketches, emails and coffee-fueled negoiations but I finally got approval to paint a large rainbow octopus composition on the side of the building.

This is my final sketch for "Octopus Flying Through Space" and is located at 510 Piikoi st.

The wall took over four stories of scaffolding, two straight weeks of 12 hour days over my winter break (minus Christmas day of course) but I got it done! I am so excited and proud of this wall.